Your Neighbor: Bob Meakin rids homeowners of pesky pests

MUNNSVILLE >> Bob Meakin never knows exactly what kind of crawling, winged, fanged or smelly creature he will find on his next day at work.

Meakin owns Captor Wildlife Services, Inc., a professional wildlife management company he started in 1989 to assist area residents with unwanted visitors. His most common cases involve bats, birds, chipmunks, moles, voles, muskrats, raccoons, skunks, squirrels and woodchucks, but he said in his two decades-plus he has dealt with a wide range of pests.

"It really runs the gamut of what bothers people, and the smaller the animal, the bigger the problem. Smaller places where animals are finding access are harder to find," Meakin explained.

Meakin said his service begins with a telephone call -- and some can be quite frantic.

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One woman contacted him saying it sounded like someone was trying to break in her roof. There was a banging noise outside, but every time the caller went out it to see what it was the sound stopped.

Luckily, when Meakin arrived on the scene there had been a light snow so he could find tracks -- they turned out to be from crows that had flown away every time the woman came near. He followed the tracks to the metal gutter, and found a peanut frozen inside.

The crows had spotted the peanut -- most likely left over from someone feeding the squirrels nearby, carried by birds to the rooftop, and then dropped to roll into the gutter -- and were pecking at it to try to get it loose.

"Once she knew what it was it wasn't a problem any more. Knowledge is power," Meakin said.

Another caller began their conversation by whispering to him that there was something inside the chimney. Meakin began whispering back, but then asked the caller why they were talking so quietly over the phone.

She told him she was hearing a loud noise inside the chimney. There were blizzard conditions outside that day, so Meakin didn't immediately make it to the house. He advised her to make sure the fireplace door and the damper were closed, and he would come out as soon as he could.

There did end up being a raccoon inside the chimney, and once it was back outside Meakin installed a chimney cap to keep it out. He felt around inside the flue from inside the room, and found a chunk of loose mortar -- that was what the raccoon was batting around inside that was making so much noise.

Another recent caller even frantically told him about a group of ducks trying to cross a roadway, asking that he come down and make sure the ducks got where they were going safely. Meakin doesn't really answer those kind of "emergencies," he admitted, and told that caller to simply stop traffic while the ducks crossed.

"That's really the influence of television -- there's not really likely to be anybody you can call to come to the rescue of ducks like that," he said.

Meakin said many of his callers haven't actually seen anything yet when they initially contact him, but rather just heard a noise. That isn't usually much help in diagnosing the problem, he admitted.

"You can't see sound," he said. "It's tough to guess what it is from the description of a noise."

He asks when and where the noise might have been heard, and sets up an onsite investigation to truly discern exactly what is going on and if it is indeed an animal. If something is found, Meakin and the caller work out a plan to eliminate the problem according to their desires.

Most of his work is exclusion, where the animal is driven from the place it shouldn't be via a system much like a check valve. It allows it to go out, but not back in. The point of entry is sealed and the unwanted guest goes away to find shelter or food someplace else. This is not used when there is a possibility of separating a female from her babies, Meakin added.

Actual trapping and relocation is not usually a viable option, because he needs the permission of the land owner before he can take an animal elsewhere.

"In the real world this doesn't work," he said. "People misconceive that if I move an animal it will be happier someplace else. Plus you never can tell the condition of the animal, and you can transfer an animal's sickness to another area. I'd really just be taking the problem someplace else."

During his investigation, he tries to find the places where the animal is getting inside, and what brings the critters to that place, like whether there is some kind of food attracting them. Bird feeders are one of the biggest culprits in bringing in unwanted wildlife guests, Meakin said.

Flaws in construction and unfixed damages often provide nice entry places for the animals to get in, he warned.

"Many times animals just exploit our mistakes," Meakin said. "If someone doesn't fix the trim where the wood is rotten, birds and squirrels can get in. Animals aren't stupid -- they just don't read. They have a more primordial intelligence and a life and death struggle every day just to survive."

After the problem with the pest is eliminated, Meakin also performs needed renovations to ensure the infestation won't happen again. He said he tries to leave homes looking even better than they were when he arrived, making sure the repairs blend in with the rest of the construction as best as possible.

Meakin said to prepare for possible painful encounters, he has a series of three pre-exposure rabies vaccines, plus regular physicals to test for the proper amounts of antibodies in his blood to ward off any infection from an animal bite or scratch. He said his education in the habits of animals and how they will react when confronted is often enough to keep him safe.

"People get hurt when they don't know what an animal is going to do, and they don't know what they themselves are going to do," Meakin said. "Animals generally don't want to confront people. It's only when you get in their way that they will be aggressive.

Not knowing what kind of animal challenge he will encounter next is the best part of running Captor Wildlife Services, he noted.

"I really enjoy all of the variety in this job. I get to deal with different people who often have complaints about common animals, but where those animals go and how they got in there is unique," Meakin explained.

Captor Wildlife Services is New York state licensed and fully insured. For more information, call Meakin at 495-5561 or log on to www.captorwildlife.com